The Silver Queen

"Who is the Silver Queen?"

That's the question that has hit X-Zone Wrestling, a women's wrestling promotion that has been around for a dozen years. The promotion hasn't seen anything like it. The Silver Queen, a mysterious masked villainess in a silver and black outfit and cape, has spent the last five months going after up-and-coming talent, usually sending her henchwomen, Katherine "Ace" Bennett and Justine "Deuce" Paxton, to do her bidding. Details about the Silver Queen were few and far in between. All that was known about her was that she's a seasoned vet; at least 20 years of competing and dominating.

One young woman who was looking to get to the bottom of this was Tracie Gilbert, a 20-year-old college student who has competed at X-Zone Wrestling since the day she turned 18. She had been juggling a lot for those last two years, and it was noticed by the school's dean, Dr. Elizabeth Tran.

"You've been arriving late to classes lately, Tracie," Elizabeth said to Tracie, in a conversation from a month prior that Tracie was replaying in her head. "You are a very focused student, or at least I'd like to believe you are."

"Dr. Tran," said Tracie, "believe me when I tell you that I am fully centered and I know what my priorities are."

"Good," said Elizabeth. "Make me proud."

Tracie remembered quite a bit from that conversation, especially how Elizabeth would give a bit of a smirk, though Tracie had managed to keep her budding in-ring career a secret from her dean. This especially included what Tracie was about to do next: face the Queen herself one-on-one. Tracie learned one thing about the Queen's actions; they were targeted towards girls her age--20, 21, even 22. College age. While Ace and Deuce usually did the heavy lifting, the Silver Queen actually wanted Tracie to herself and challenged her to a match a week prior. The match was set, with an added stipulation: the Silver Queen will unmask should she lose.

Tracie had all of this on her mind as she made her entrance in front of a crowd that was pulling all the way for her. For Tracie, this was a bit personal for her, as two of the girls who were targeted and defeated by the Queen's forces were schoolmates and friends of hers--Jessica Bayne and Giselle Marks. Once Tracie entered the ring, she watched intently as the Silver Queen made her entrance, covered in silver and black, a crown insignia as the centerpiece, a cape that she removed while entering, and a crown that she carried on her right hand.

The bell rang, and the Silver Queen wasted no time going after Tracie. The tie up was intense, as was the Queen's takedown, but Tracie managed to deliver her own offense to her opponent. Tracie's attempt to send the Queen towards the ropes was countered when the Queen sent Tracie there instead, and once Tracie bounced off, she ended up in an attempted sleeper hold by the Queen, who wanted to finish this off quickly.

"You're not ready, princess," the evil Silver Queen snarled. "You lack focus!"

There was that word again: "focus." Tracie was hearing it at school, and now, she was hearing it again from the Silver Queen, a masked maniac who had been terrorizing budding wrestlers such as herself, all college students like herself. That was the last straw for Tracie, as she fought off the sleeper and delivered an onslaught of lefts and rights to her opponent. Tracie delivered a vertical suplex and a moonsault to the Queen, but all that did was earn Tracie a two-count. Tracie went for a clothesline, only for the dazed Queen to regain enough of her bearings to deliver a powerbomb to Tracie.

The Silver Queen decided to rile up the crowd, who responded in kind with boos and jeers, and went for another powerbomb, only for Tracie to counter and deliver a modified facebuster to her opponent. That move was enough for Tracie to get the deciding three-count and the victory, and as she reveled in her victory, the defeated Silver Queen slinked out of the ring and headed up the entrance ramp. Noticing this, Tracie chased after her foe and tracked her to the backstage area.

"Hold it right there, Queen!" shouted Tracie. "You remember our deal! I won our match, so come on, show yourself!" The Queen, having stopped in her tracks and with her back turned, slowly removed her mask as promised, and quickly turned around to face Tracie, who was shocked to see who her foe was.

"Dr. Tran?!"

The face that Tracie saw belonged to none other than her own dean, Dr. Elizabeth Tran, and as she faced Tracie, she displayed that same smirk that Tracie knew all too well.

"Surprised?" Elizabeth cooed wickedly.

"Why?" asked Tracie. "Why all of this?"

"You girls think you can have it all, do you?" said Elizabeth. "Today's generation wants it all at once nowadays. When I was your age, I had to put things on hold, I couldn't burn the candle at both ends like you and those other girls do. I had to make sacrifices!" Elizabeth made a dramatic pause, gave a deep breath, and delivered a stunning revelation:

"And those sacrifices led me to become Queen of the Ring in 2009!"

Tracie gleamed over Elizabeth's statement. Several women's wrestling promotions have Queen of the Ring tournaments, but back in 2009, only one did: Sirens of Combat.

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Tracie. "You're... you're..."

"Luscious Lizzie," Elizabeth said with an evil gleam. "Lethal, gorgeous, and wicked! But you remember me, don't you? After all, your mother was my greatest rival... and my dearest friend."

Those four words were uttered somberly by Elizabeth, and Tracie knew that feeling all too well. Tracie was inspired to get into wrestling by her mother, Mindy Gilbert, who was one of the most popular and beloved babyfaces in Sirens of Combat. Tracie lost her idol, her mother, her best friend, six years ago, when Tracie was 14, but Tracie promised that she would continue to follow her dream in her mother's memory.

"Ace and Deuce are my wrestling students," Elizabeth continued, "but while I sent them to go after the others, I wanted to face you personally. I've been the dean for five years, and when I saw you enroll, I couldn't believe it. Mindy's little girl all grown up. I make a habit to know everything about my students, and when I saw that you were also competing in the ring, I had to go after you myself."

"You could have reached out, and we could have planned something together," said Tracie.

"Typical babyface, just like your mom," said Elizabeth with a bit of a fond smile. "I'm a villainess, Tracie. I relish the drama, the scheming, the scares. I wanted to really test you to see if you could truly thrive."

"And did I pass, Dr. Tran?" asked Tracie.

"With flying colors," said Elizabeth. "You made me proud, and you made your mom proud. And it's Lizzie, at least between us in this world we share together."

The two women shared an emotional hug after everything. The young student fighting the good fight in the ring, the no-nonsense dean/villainous wrestling legend who gave her student a good fight, both with several common bonds. News of the bout and Elizabeth's unmasking hit everywhere; the campus, wrestling sites, and social media. The good buzz the school received resulted in not only Elizabeth remaining as dean, but she also continued on in wrestling along with Tracie.

Other than their X-Zone Wrestling appearances, the gigs even included special shows at the campus, with Tracie, Jessica, and Giselle participating as babyfaces, while Elizabeth served as a heel authority figure and enlisted villainous wrestlers to do her bidding. The students ate it up and enjoyed it all, especially Tracie's hard working drive and Elizabeth's uproarious villainy. As for Tracie and Elizabeth themselves, they were the happiest of all of them, as what started as a mystery in the squared circle turned into a bond that brought them together as colleagues and friends.

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Thank you for reading my story, which I entered in Sasha Desideri's Summer Mystery Unofficial Challenge: